1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stick supplying unit, a stick discharging unit, and a sausage suspending apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a sausage is suspended in loop form from suspending members provided on a conveyor connected to a stuffing apparatus, is subsequently delivered manually or automatically to a stick for heat treatment, and is suspended from the stick while maintaining the loop form. For example, in a conventionally known apparatus of this type, the stick is supported by hook-like portions of arm-like stick supporting members in the vicinities of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the stick. In such an apparatus, the sticks are arranged and supported one at a time on the hook-like portions of the stick supporting members by a supplying unit, and the stick is taken up from the stick supporting members by a stick discharging unit and is brought to a position where it can be taken out. In this upward movement of the stick, the sausage suspended from the suspending members is transferred onto the stick and is suspended from the stick. The stick with the sausage suspended therefrom is transferred by a transfer unit to a carrying-out conveyor headed for a smokehouse. For example, devices disclosed in the following patent documents are known: stick supplying unit: Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, and Patent Document 5; stick discharging unit: Patent document 5; and stick transfer unit: Patent document 1 and Patent Document 4.
Concerning linked sausages which are manufactured by a stuffing apparatus, an apparatus is disclosed in Patent Document 1 in which, in order to be heat treated in a smokehouse, a stuffed sausage is directly hung in loop form on a hanging rod (stick) supported by a pair of receiving stands at a position directly above a carrying-out conveyor headed for a smokehouse. In this apparatus, a hanging means for hanging the stuffed sausage on the hanging rod is disposed in such a manner as to extend up to a region over the carrying-out conveyor, the sausage is continued to be hung on the hanging rod while being formed into loops by this hanging means, and the loops are moved on the hanging rod in the longitudinal direction of the hanging rod while the loops are being pulled away from each other by a plurality of pulling-away arms which move in the longitudinal direction of the rod. The hanging rod from which the sausage is hung is brought onto the carrying-out conveyor as the receiving stands are lowered by vertically movable cylinders.
Meanwhile, a stick supplying unit disclosed in Patent Document 2 is comprised of: suspension hooks for suspending a meat-filled sheep intestine and stick supporting hooks positioned therebelow; an inclined table on which a multiplicity of sticks are stored; and a transfer member for dropping and supplying the stick onto the stick supporting hooks by transferring the sticks one by one up to the stick supporting hooks between the suspension hooks and the stick supporting hooks which are juxtaposed in the vertical direction.
The stick supplying unit of Patent Document 3 includes a chute-like guide portion in which an inclined groove is formed for guiding the stick with respect to each of its both ends from a storage device with a plurality of sticks stored therein, as well as a slide member which, upon receiving only one stick from a lower end opening of the guide portion, moves in a horizontal direction toward a position above a hook-like portion of the aforementioned stick supporting member, wherein a groove member allowing the stick to drop is provided in a suspended manner at a distal end portion of the slide member. In addition, a rod is incorporated in the slide member and is adapted to move between a projected position at which the groove of the groove member is closed by a distal end of the rod to hamper the dropping of the stick and a retreated position at which the distal end of the rod is retreated from the groove member to allow the dropping of the stick.
In such Patent Document 3, the slide member advances upon receiving only one stick from the lower end opening of the guide portion, to thereby close the lower end opening of the guide member, and after the stick is conveyed to the position above the hook-like portion, the rod moves to its retreated position to open the groove in the groove member of the slide member, allowing the stick to pass through the groove and to be dropped onto the hook-like portion of the aforementioned stick supporting member.
In a stick supplying unit of Patent Document 5, a stick transfer body, which moved upwardly beyond a stick supporting member in a state in which the stick is held by a notched portion, is adapted to deliver the held stick onto the stick supporting member while moving downwardly from beyond the stick supporting member. In addition to the aforementioned notched portion, a notched portion is also formed separately on this stick transfer body for taking up from the stick supporting member the stick, which is set on the stick supporting member, during its upward movement beyond the stick supporting member.
With the stick discharging unit of Patent Document 5, the stick supported by a pair of stick supporting members is taken up from the stick supporting members by a pair of arm-like stick transfer bodies, and after the sausage is thereby set in a state of being suspended from the stick in loop form, the stick is discharged. The stick transfer bodies are respectively positioned in correspondence with both end portions of the stick in the longitudinal direction of the stick, and are adapted to undergo stroke movement by being driven by a pair of rodless cylinders provided for the respective stick transfer bodies in such a manner as to be located on the inner side of the stick transfer bodies in the longitudinal direction, i.e., within the lengthwise range of the stick. As for the stick transfer body, its distal end portion having the notched portion for latching and taking up the stick is movable in the longitudinal direction of the stick transfer body on a linear track extending diagonally between a standby position located below the stick supporting member and a discharge position located above the stick supporting member. According to this Patent Document 5, as the stick transfer body moves upwardly on the track, the stick transfer body lifts up and takes out the stick with the sausage loops suspended therefrom from below by the notched portion, and brings it to the discharge position.
Next, Patent document 4 is known as the stick transfer unit, and in Patent Document 4 there are provided a horizontal transfer means which transfers a stick with the sausage suspended in loop form in the longitudinal direction of the stick to a position immediately above a carrying-out conveyor means, as well as a transfer means which, upon receiving the stick from the horizontal transfer means at the position immediately above the carrying-out conveyor means, is downwardly moved and delivers the stick onto the carrying-out conveyor means.